New York Times Embroiled in Anti-Semitism Spat

The New York Times has become embroiled in a row over the use of anti-Semitic tropes following a column by Maureen Dowd focused on the role of neo-conservatives in the Republican election campaign. Dowd wrote (emphasis added):

Ryan was moving his mouth, but the voice was the neocon puppet master Dan Senor. The hawkish Romney adviser has been secunded to manage the running mate and graft a Manichaean worldview onto the foreign affairs neophyte.

Dowd fairly observed that neither Mitt Romney nor Paul Ryan are experts in the field of foreign policy, but asserted their strategy was orchestrated by a “neocon puppet master” who was leading the neocon effort to “slither back” into power.

Such language, to say nothing of the questionable legitimacy of her claims, struck experts on American-Israeli relations as an inappropriate (though perhaps unintentional) appeal to anti-Semitic stereotypes, and especially offensive ahead of the first night of the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah.

“Dowd’s use of anti-Semitic imagery is awful,” Steven A. Cook, a senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, wrote on Twitter.

“Maureen may not know this, but she is peddling an old stereotype, that gentile leaders are dolts unable to resist the machinations and manipulations of clever and snake-like Jews,” Jeffrey Goldberg, the Atlantic columnist and leading journalist on Israeli issues, wrote.

“[A]mazing that apparently nobody sat her down and said, this is not OK,” Blake Hounshell, the managing editor of Foreign Policy magazine, tweeted.

On the right, The Weekly Standard’s Daniel Halper called it “outrageous,” while Commentary’s Jonathan Tobin described it as “particularly creepy.”

“Dowd’s column marks yet another step down into the pit of hate-mongering that has become all too common at the Times,” Tobin wrote. “This is a tipping point that should alarm even the most stalwart liberal Jewish supporters of the president.”

It is irrelevant whether one sympathizes with Republicans or Democrats – the use of anti-Semitic tropes is unacceptable whatever one’s political beliefs. It is entirely possible and indeed probable that Maureen Dowd did not intend her comments to be viewed as anti-Semitic. Nonetheless, it is a disturbing sign, both that such language has entered the body politic and that the New York Times did not recognize the problem before Dowd was published.

Maureen Dowd was right on with her criticism. The charge of antisemitism, when applied thoughtlessly, calls into question the legitimacy of of justified charges. Not all of the “puppet masters” are Jews. No need for Honest Reporting to appropriate this for our exclusive use.
I know it is difficult to stay fair & factual when the other side doesn’t, but you chose “Honest” as your first name, so it behooves you to try.
Keep up the good work. Don’t cancel it out with pandering to the American right-wing . When it becomes politically expensive, and it eventually will if workable arrangements in the Mideast aren’t found, these guys will leave Israel high & dry.

Hello,
My final thought re: DOWD etc. I think Steve has a point up to a point; our collective history should have taught us to be vigilant, but not to be hypocritical. By that I mean how much more honest would Honest Reporting be if it also found a way to identify fair criticism of Israel, as well as disguised anti-semitism?

When and only when these pan Islamic politicians are prepared to be critical of the horrors committed by Israel’s adversaries will I publicly criticize Israels` mis -givings.
Until then Israel can do no wrong!

For the problems which Israel may be accused of fade into insignificance compared with the human crimes of their neighbours.

Even to the point where Hamas introduced the criminal punishment f crucifixion back in 2009, for those patronising Israel.
That the PA under Abbas has a death sentence for any one slling land to a Jew!
Lets hear the wrath of the world for those inhumanities- In stead of keeping someone waiting at a check point!

Steve:Trying to be pithy I failed to convey my disappointment that the progressive ideas of Judaism I was taught to believe are often discarded by those for whom power is the essential goal. I am not being naive: I understand that the world is a dangerous place, and that sometimes violence is the only recourse, but it seems to me that the complaint against the right that for it it is the first recourse is correct. As for Dowd, if she offends, don’t read her, but my anti semite radar has picked up little to be concerned about, other than her sometimes difficult vocabulary. I’m not sure how I twisted your words, if I did, I apologise; I’ll try to be more clear in the future.

I used to enjoy reading Maureen Dowd’s columns. They were original and they made me laugh. Also, she would throw in a word or two which I was not familiar with, and that would send me scurrying to the dictionary to look up their definitions. She was like chicken soup for the soul: a good chuckle together with an education in the English language. She made me wonder, sometimes, how I could ever get through life without using these words in my daily conversation. Take the aforementioned controversial column [Neocons Slither Back], for example, in which she uses words like “secunded” and “Manichaean”. After I read the column, I immediately attempted to use these words in friendly convers

[Continued] ations. “Secunded” has something to do with a leaf on the side of a flower. I told my neighbor that some of my tomato plants have leaves secunded to my tomato flowers. She replied that she agreed with me, and whatever solution I could come up with, she seconded the motion. No luck there. Next I tried “Manichaean”, the definition of which is a believer in religious dualism. So I did further research on Dan Senor, and I learned that Dan Senor, in addition to being a Jew, is married to Campbell Brown, a TV news personality, who was raised as a Roman Catholic, and converted to Judaism before she married Senor. Is Dowd worried about their two sons growing up as Manichaeans?

The religious dualism of the Manichaeans does not refer to different religious backgrounds. It is a belief in a spiritual realm in which a god and a devil have approximately equal powers to enlist and direct their human worshippers. The original Persian examples were Ahura Mazda and Ahriman.

Many of my fellow Jews find an antisemite under every piece of paper. Some neocons are Jews; most are probably not (Cheney comes to mind). Dowd’s description is apt; that Goebbles and is current imitators have used it against Jews is totally irrelevant. We’re giving too much credence to a picayune and puerile attempt to smear a liberal journalist who’s proud to write under her own byline.

That’s it, Mr.Mann, I’m a “non patriotic coward,” Thanks for your encouragement to be “honest.” As to your comments re: Israeli minorities are ” catered to.” The term ” catered” suggests an attitude that the rights enjoyed by Israel minorities is something the majority offers, and that the minority actually enjoys; this is simply not the case. The 369 characters I have left is simply not enough to create a detailed argument. But I would like to make a suggestion. To have a civilized debate personal attacks should be avoided. In that spirit I withdraw my comment made earlier that I’d rather be called a “kike than a neocon.” But that the NC is a dangerous ideology I still believe.

I stand by every word I said- And you , as expected have taken my words and twisted them.
Minorities in Israel are treated no different to those in the UK or the US-

In fact as an example-
The Burka is banned in France- Is frowned upon in the UK and many would like it banned- In Israel, who even talks about it-
So I would rather be called a “Kike” than a Communist- Is that not a stupid comment to make!-

I am not an America or Israel bashing commentator: Israel should remain a Jewish homeland, but surely all those reading this can agree that the rights of Israeli minorities need to be protected. Of course, how that is done is the devil in the details. Have news organizations distorted the Israeli side of things? Yes, without a doubt. Should we be vigilant against unfair, prejudicial reporting? Again, yes, without a doubt. But I am concerned that some people in their zeal to protect Israel’s standing in the public sphere allow their passions to rule where more critical thinking needs to govern. Dowd is not guilty, as charged.

But all Israeli minorities are catered for- The 14 other religions- Those without faith- there are even Nazis in Israel (Sickening)
They can all vote, be members of the Knesset is elected- Teach and go to universities- pray in mosques and churches- Are members of the Military, Judiciary and some hold high office.

Sam Israel writes: “…but surely all those reading this can agree that the rights of Israeli minorities need to be protected.” Apparently the Israeli Arab minority is not required to join the IDF. Does this possibly have to do with lack of loyalty of many Arab citizens of Israel to the Israeli state? Do all inductees to the IDF have to take a loyalty oath to the defense of Israel similar to the oath U.S. armed services inductees must take to support and defend the U.S. Constitution? I am wondering whether or not opponents of the state of Israel are claiming such a policy is evidence of discrimination. I’m not making charges here, but I want to be better informed.

This is shameful language and is an embarasment to democracy . As people who fight for democracy around the world such bigotry and antisemetism should not be allowed. As a Canadian , I am turned off and appaled by such behaviour on the part of the American Media.

This particular attack on Dowd may indeed be a bit misplaced–but so is nearly all of the slurpingly relentless pro-Obama drivel she regularly cranks out. Dowd can say nothing but smarmy sarcastic negatives about a great guy like Romney but has never seen one thing from our Fraud in Chief she didn’t like.
As for me, i’d MUCH rather be called a neocon than a draft dodger.

I am a Jew. I am also a Vietnam Era Draft Resister who went to Canada. Perhaps only fellow Jews can appreciate the embarassment many progressive Jews during those years felt at the fascist tendencies Kissinger exhibited while serving the Nixon Whitehouse. The facts are what they are: Kissinger made it Ok for Jewish politicos to be as self serving and venal as everyone else. Neocon, suggestive as it is of a philosophy, is too polite a term for a group of people for whom power is the “only” thing. I’d rather be called a Kike than a neocon! A final note: Whose paranoid mind dreamt up this silly attack on Dowd?

Think reading antiSemitism into this Dowd piece may be a bit of a stretch, although readers need to know that for some, the term “neocons” IS definitely a code word for “Jews with too much power” and often accompanied by explicit antiSemitic references.

Think the larger questions are: Why is Maureeen Dowd so monotonously left wing, slurpingly pro-Obama and comfortable with considerable factual distortions to drive this agenda? and 2. Why is The Times in general inarguably and regularly antiIsrael and pro-Islamist (19/21 recent editorials about the region NEGATIVE toward Israel!)

I am a supporter of Obama, and a strong supporter if Israel. I never knew that the term “Neocon” referred to Jews. As was said earlier, don’t we have enough real anti semitism to to be concerned about?

What I don’t understand is: Why are our tax dollars propping up this bankrupt rag? If The New York Times is what people want to support then let the advertisers and the people who read it keep it afloat. I doubt it would still be in existence if it had to live off its words. About the description of Jewish puppet masters one merely has to look at the Nazi press which regularly ran with that description and even cartoons had pictures of a big nose Jew with serpentine arms circling the globe.

Michael, thank you for that lesson in logic. Let’s continue. So I presume we agree that the sheer notion that most Jews are neo-cons is absurd. In fact, 80% voted Obama in 08 so most tend to be “lefties”; right? Perhaps we can also agree that the NY Times may have a left of center editorial bent (although you might state that with more passion than I) – So now we agree that lots of Jews are lefties and The NY Times is a “Leftie Rag”. So the argument here is this Leftie paper is turning on their leftie Jewish base with an anti-Semitic conspiracy lead by Ms. Doud to blame neo-cons on us? In the words of revered Steeler color man, Myron Cope – Yoi & Double Yoi!

No one is more sensative to anti-semitic remarks than I am, and this is absolute nonsense. Agree or disagree with the content of the column, but don’t go looking under every word for hate speech. People see and believe what they want to, but it doesn’t make it so.

If you know the history of the NYT you know that they collaboarated to hide the truth of the Nazi genocide against the Jews. Their policy has been to demonize Israel and use the “polite” antisemitic code phrases such as neo-con which they apply only to Jews. Others who hold similar views may be called right-wingers etc. but neo-com is a special derogative reserved for Jews.The Sulzberger family which has published the paper since about 1896 cherishes its role in elitist American society which means distancing itself from the Jewish roots of the founder of the New York Times CO., Adolph Ochs.

I don’t know what planet you live on, Elle, but the Times does not have a policy of demonizing Israel, and the fact that it prints op-ed and editorials once in a while that are critical does not equal demonization. I think for some people pretty every news source demonizes Israel outside of Fox News and the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal.

It’s time to drop this line about the Times and WWII. This is not 1945, and it’s silly to act as if the paper is run exactly the same way as it was then.

I worked with a highly intelligent, very ambitious accountant who eventually became a Director of BT plc (British equivalent of AT&T). He was Indian (Sikh) – he told me the Jews controlled the newspapers & always had. I replied if that was true how is it possible that the Shoah was allowed to occur because by controlling the news ‘The Jews’ could have had Palestine & saved all those European Jews from being murdered. Kinde quickly corrected himself. He said he meant ‘the Jews’ only controlled the press AFTER 1945. hophmi reminds me of Kinde. Attitudes & behaviours, especially corporate attitudes & behaviours only change if they have reason to do so. Or if fear forces them to change.

Hey Fränkl; way to raise the level of discourse on this thread. I know your unbiased and eloquent analysis of the Times Editorial standards will have their editors re-thinking their policies and readers like me swayed! But hey; I guess I’m just another self-hating anti-Semitic Jew that you’ve motivated to start a subscription to the Times. Intolerance and ignorance shouldn’t be tolerated regardless of the source.

Yes, Dave you almost certainly are. The WWII Roosevelt generation imitating “Jews” who long ceased to be Jewish Israel and by worshipping their serial liar Kenyan-born Muslim messiah mindlessly, “ignorantly” and contrary to the best interests of not merely Israel, but your putative country, the US and the civilized Western world, too, I’m hardly surprised that your obsequios, middle-finger for Israel-mentality is dominant for you. After all, you American Jews are the absolute worst the Jewish people ever produced: Immoral, appeasing, soft on Israel, borderline-treasoneous and incredibly DUMB being unable to recognize their very own interests. You betrayed [Euro] us once, won’t do 1 mo’ time!

Israel & Jews have enough actual hate & bias material to expose.
It is not necessary to invent offenses by appropriation words and applying meaning that the context does not support. In the long run you will lose the support of your wider audience if you fall into the thrall of your virulent base, i.e., Republican neocons.

The New York Times is made by, of, and for outright stomach-turning disgusting fecal antismites. A rotten-to-the-core soft-Nazi “paper” that is the declared enemy of the Jewish state of Israel, whose opinion section is edited by a disgusting fecal matter self-hating antisemitic Jew, Jill Abrahamson often giving space in her wretched msierable trash to Nazi hatemongers like Srah Shulman and denying Goldston’s so-called admission and contrivance-piece the space to be published. Pfui! i spit in your face, pseudo-liberal fecal antisemitic neo-Nazis!

What i find more striking (and relevant) about this and most other Maureen Dowd columns are :

1. She’s so invested in Obama that she’ll say virtually ANYTHING about Romney (or any other prominent Republican), in a 100% one-sided way, truth be damned.
This blind Obamaslurping of course can’t always be correct, but that never stops Maureen. Amazing to me that The Times continues to run her distorted stuff without semblance of journalistic worth or integrity. Dowd as much as any columnist there shows how far the Times has fallen in their standards.

2. The transparent hypocrisy which characterizes the Left’s narratives. Is anyone more of a puppet than Obama? Just think Axelrod, Soros!

I agree that probably Maureen Dowd didn’t mean her “puppetmaster”remark to be anti-semitic, but it was, at best, a poor choice of words, and, at worst, an extremely nasty insult to Mr. Senor’s legitimate advisory role in the Romney-Ryan campaign. Where are the editors at the Times? Don’t they read the copy? Or don’t they care what they publish? Probablythe latter, as long as it agrees with their point of view.

First it was “genocide”, then it was “holocaust”, now it is “neocon” and “puppetmaster”.
I have a suggestion.
Why doesn’t the Jewish community copyright the entire vocabulary of the English language?
That way we can control what everyone has to say, and think of the money the licencing fees will bring us.

To those of you who feel that picking on Maureen Dowd is an anti-leftist phenomenon, allow me to remind you of the examples I recorded in my prior comments. Pat Buchanan is not a leftist. Neither is Ron Paul. Chris Matthews is. So is Maureen Dowd. There, it’s even, 2 and 2.

I thought that I am as sensitive about anti-Semetic language as anyone, but I fail to see how a reference to a puppetmaster is anti-Semetic. And for the record, (a) I don’t support Romney and (b) Dan Senor’s comments views vary with which the officeholder (look back to what he said on the same subjects four years ago).

Living as I do in the southernmost part of Africa, the Romney debate is of minimal interest to me. Just a point of interest: this is the second item I have sen where it says”the …Romney advisor has been secunded..” why is seconded spelled with a U??

I support Romney/Ryan and do not agree with this author’s assessment of them, but I had no idea that “neocon” was a negative term for “Jew”. Should I just assume that anytime someone uses this term, they are being anti-Semetic? I ask this seriously, not sarcastically.

The short answer is “yes”. People like Dowd and other leftists do not apply the term to non Jews like Cheney and Rumsfeld. They reserve the term for Jews who were formerly liberal or left and subsequently had the temerity/honesty to change their world view upon comparing their leftist views with reality.

Let me see if I got this right: Neo-Con = Jew to those of us on the left.
Jews have traditionally been Dem voters with the vast majority (80% give or take) supporting Obama in 2008 (http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1112/religion-vote-2008-election) putting them on the left. So by that logic all of us Jews on the left consider Jews to be Neo-Cons? Well I guess that makes as much sense as anything coming from the Neo-cons these days. Ah…what has happened to that Grand Ole’ Party? At least back in the day they made sense!

Get a grip. Referring to an advisor as a puppetmaster is not an anti-Semitic trope – at least one recognizable by most people. Somebody is really trying to stretch the point. This is not worth talking about.

What makes Paul an expert? What makes Obama an expert? Since taking office Obama got handed his hat by the Iraqi’s and al-Qadea has returned to its old haunts; In Afghanistan, under Obama, American casualties have doubled and in 3 and half years the Bush total for 8 years.. Obama has allied us with the Muslim Brotherhood tried to negotiate with the Taliban another political Islamist group that practices crimes against humanity as do many Islamic states. In the face of Islamic terrorism Obama has chosen to be blind and reluctant to declare instances of either as little more than work place accidents. Paul is campaigning to release a Pakistani DR, Obama the Blind Sheik, that says it all

As a Jewish American and supporter of Israel (but not always Netanyahu policy), this anti-Semitic paranoia is growing old. Yes, there is Anti-Semitic rhetoric in many places and yes it should be called out. But this like too many other claims from HonestReporting just serves to trivialize the real issues we need to address.

Israel is a country with free speech and active political debate yet you make it appear to be a country that stifles debate if it doesn’t agree with Likud policy. Sometimes I think 95% of the Labor Party in Israel would be accused of being Anti-Semitic if they lived in Europe or America. Perhaps we need to be reminded of the children’s tale “The Boy who cried wolf”.

What makes Paul an expert? What makes Obama an expert? Since taking office Obama got handed his hat by the Iraqi’s and al-Qadea has returned to its old haunts; American casualties have doubOur military and led in 3 and half years the Bush total for 8 years in Afghanistan. Obama has allied us with Islamists tried to negotiate with the Taliban a religious political Islamist group that practices crimes against humanity as do many Islamic states. In the face of Islamic terrorism Obama has chosen to be blind and reluctant to declare instances of either as little more than work place accidents. Paul is campaigning to release a Pakistani DR, Obama the Blind Sheik, that says it all..

Although your observations are usually spot on, I think you are off the mark here and doing us a disservice. Maureen Dowd’s columns and writing style are usually strongly worded representations of her (usually) strong leftist views. The language quoted is normal Dowd-speak and to turn that into anti semitism, whether conscious or not just feeds into another stereotype-that of the knee jerk reaction of an organization that sees a Jew hater behind every bush.
HR is doing a fantastic job. This particular column is neither accurate nor helpful.

I am a Zionist American Jew and follow HonestReporting and appreciate what they do but this observation about Maureen Dowd is off the wall and reeks of an alternate political agenda. Anti-Semitic and anti- Israeli journalism and propaganda are the appropriate targets for this website. Once an alternate political agenda starts to seep through, the clarity and purpose of the website start to become obscured.

Sadaam Hussein was a pathological killer who should have been removed a long long time ago. That is Americas shame if it calls itself the worlds policeman (woman). The neocons – if they did in fact ‘drag’ America into a killing field should be thanked and not pilloried – or perhaps it is the profits you prefer without the engagement?

Maureen Dowd is a satirist. She is a humorist. She always takes an abrasive tone and a pinch of hyperbole to illiustrate her point. That’s her shtick and she is among the best in the business. Give her a break. Stop taking yourselves so seriously. By the way the neocons dragged this country into a killing field in Iraq for purely selfish purposes. Why anyone, even Romney and Ryan would want to listen to their line of crap is beyond me. It certainly deserves to be spotlighted by Dowd and everyone else with a bully pulpit.

What experience did our current President have in foreign affairs? And what has he done since coming into office accept for bowing before the King in Saudi Arabia and cow towing to the Muslim Brotherhood in Eqypt (this could go on forwever). When will America wake up!!!

With all due respect to Mr. Honeyman opinion, allow me to dissent of your concept of OBAMA’s
presidency
In my humble opinion, I believe it will be registered in the REAL history books (not those
“doctored” by lefties used now) as worst than that of JIMMY WHO’s, which is a lot to say.
Of course, there are those like you who would reelect him just because of party’s loyalty, without giving a hoot about his past, his spitting in Israel’s face, his despise for Israel’s PM and his
partiality for Arabs in the Arab-Israeli “conflict” but then again, the time will come as happened in Germany, that all those first Germans and then Jews, got it in the neck
We Jews are at best TOLERATED, not loved…

If I have ever seen a manufactured controversy, this is it. It is precisely this kind of tactic that gives we Jewish Americans a bad rep with some of our fellow citizens, not the sarcastic comments of a well known sharp toothed Times essayist. These self annointed neo Lions of Judah ought to be ashamed to raise a facially false claim of anti-Semitism in support of their favored candidates.

Whenever I see that word neocon,” my antenna goes up. It has evolved into a pejorative word for “Jew” as in “that-typical-lousy-Jewish-influence-on-real-Americans-trying-to-keep-this-country-safe- from-its-enemies” usage. Such anti-Semites as Pat Buchanan, Ron Paul, and Chris Matthews have all used that word, extensively, to describe their innermost feelings about Jews who dare to involve themselves, even marginally, in America’s foreign policy, particularly as it relates to Israel. Of course, Maureen Dowd telegraphed her punches when she described Dan Senor as a neocon. A quick bit of research using the Internet confirmed my suspicion that Dan Senor was, indeed (horrors!), a Jew.

As an Australian I may not get involved in American politics but I do read some of the quality journals that are referred to above and if the Council on Foreign Relations, FP and Atlantic say there is a unpleasant smell emanating from the The NYT I do not need to stick my nose into the nesprint to confirm whether the bouquet is off or not!

(BTW, I have major gripes with Obama on economic policy and on early naivete so I’m not blinded by love.)

Your mission reminds me of the old saw: to a man with hammer, every problem looks like a nail. This is not the first time you folks have pulled out the burning cross (mixed metaphor, I know…) inappropriately. Please be more careful in the future.

I’m Jewish, Zionist, pro-Romney/Ryan, think Obama’s presidency is a disaster but I don’t see the anti-Semitism here. They always say this or that person is a puppet… everywhere internationally… some say Obama is the puppet of Soros (is that anti-Greek or just stupid?). She’s wrong of course. Ryan is not a neophyte just because he didn’t sit on some committee that sucks your brains out, stir-fries them and hands them back to you with a bit of black bean sauce.

I don’t know what’s worse: the notion that Dowd and her kameraden at the Slimes are deaf and blind to the clear implications of her column, or the thought that the Slimes published her filth deliberately and knowingly. Odd how the regressives are so attuned to dog-whistles only they can hear, but deaf to the clangor of fire alarms.